Table 1.
Characteristics of study participants with relevant data from the MRC NSHD overall and by sex (n = 2739).
| Overall, N (%) | Males, n (%) | Females, n (%) | P value of Sex Difference Test | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birth weight (kg) | P < 0.001 | ||||
| ≤2.50 | 120 (4.4) | 42 (3.1) | 78 (5.7) | ||
| 2.51–3.00 | 455 (16.6) | 180 (13.2) | 275 (20.0) | ||
| 3.01–3.50 | 974 (35.6) | 466 (34.1) | 508 (37.0) | ||
| 3.51–4.00 | 906 (33.1) | 488 (35.7) | 418 (30.5) | ||
| >4.00 | 284 (10.4) | 191 (14.0) | 93 (6.8) | ||
| Ability in school sports age 13 yr | P = 0.001 | ||||
| Above average or average ability | 2327 (85.0) | 1130 (82.7) | 1197 (87.2) | ||
| Below average ability | 412 (15.0) | 237 (17.3) | 175 (12.8) | ||
| LTPA across adulthooda | |||||
| Age 36 yr | 1725 (63.0) | 941 (68.9) | 784 (57.2) | P < 0.001 | |
| Age 43 yr | 1165 (47.0) | 635 (51.2) | 530 (42.9) | P < 0.001 | |
| Age 53 yr | 1134 (50.5) | 568 (52.0) | 566 (49.1) | P = 0.2 | |
| Age 60–64 yr | 606 (35.6) | 277 (33.7) | 329 (37.4) | P = 0.1 | |
| Age 68 yr | 725 (39.9) | 345 (39.9) | 380 (39.8) | P = 0.9 | |
| Birth order | P = 0.7 | ||||
| First born | 1129 (41.2) | 569 (41.6) | 560 (40.8) | ||
| Second born | 905 (33.0) | 441 (32.3) | 464 (33.8) | ||
| Third or later born | 705 (25.7) | 357 (26.1) | 348 (25.4) | ||
| Father’s occupational class age 4 yr | P = 0.9 | ||||
| Professional/managerial/technical | 601 (22.0) | 300 (22.0) | 301 (22.0) | ||
| Skilled nonmanual | 503 (18.4) | 246 (18.0) | 257 (18.7) | ||
| Skilled manual | 842 (30.7) | 416 (30.4) | 426 (31.1) | ||
| Partly skilled or unskilled | 793 (29.0) | 405 (29.6) | 388 (28.3) | ||
| Cognitive ability age 8 yrb | 2739 (100) | −0.01 (0.8) | 0.04 (0.8) | P = 0.1 | |
| Physical health age 36 yr | P = 0.7 | ||||
| Worst | 710 (25.9) | 356 (26.0) | 354 (25.8) | ||
| Intermediate | 1748 (63.8) | 864 (63.2) | 884 (64.4) | ||
| Best | 281 (10.3) | 147 (10.8) | 134 (9.8) | ||
≤2.50 kg: range = 1.25–2.50 kg (mean = 2.30 kg); >4.00 kg: range = 4.09–5.00 kg (mean = 4.32 kg).
a
Proportions are for those taking part (once or more than once per month) in LTPA at each age.
b
Data show mean (SD) standardized cognitive ability z-score (overall mean = 0; overall SD = 1).